ABOUT DASSAI SAKE
The Story of DASSAI Beyond
The Ultra Premium Sake Beyond All Expectations
It can truly be said that DASSAI Beyond was more than a decade-in-the-making. The origins of this rare and extraordinary sake began with a simple, yet most challenging ambition: to handcraft a sake that would surpass the excellence of DASSAI 23, widely praised by critics as a “perfect” sake. And so, driven by the passion of DASSAI’s founder, Hiroshi Sakurai, he and his small group of the finest sake artisans began their quest to improve upon perfection at DASSAI’s tiny, countryside brewery in Yamaguchi prefecture.
The idea of a sake “beyond” became the touchstone for their work. Crafting a sake of such transcendent excellence meant going beyond polishing numbers and the provenance of rice and water. It demanded going beyond normal flavor profiles to coax levels of depth, complexity and smoothness from rice that had never been tasted before in a sake. And it required the artisans behind its creation to go beyond the known limits of their sake-brewing art.
“each bottle is a rarity”
The standards for DASSAI Beyond were so high, that years of dedicated work and painstaking craftsmanship did not produce a single bottle that could meet them. Batch after batch—each one superb and “perfect” in its own way—was rejected for not sufficiently transcending the excellence of DASSAI 23. But Sakurai and his artisans would not give up their quest and, finally, they succeeded in creating a sake worthy of the name DASSAI Beyond.
To best appreciate the achievement of DASSAI Beyond, we suggest that you taste it with DASSAI 23. Be prepared for an experience beyond all your expectations of sake. Unparalleled smoothness and clean, complex flavors engulf the entire palate, followed by a stunning length of finish.
To this day, the superlative standards for DASSAI Beyond keep production extremely limited and each bottle is a rarity. The completely handcrafted process for producing it remains a closely held secret. And the work of our sake artisans is never truly finished, as they continue a quest to take DASSAI Beyond even further past the limits of perfection.
Born in a challenging time for the sake industry.
In the face of this, we have followed a natural flow of change, making our company, Asahi Shuzo, one of the most unique breweries in Japan. We have slowly, gently, and carefully changed much about the way we exist and brew, change that has been inspired partly by our own crises and difficult times.And we have emerged with more focus and resolve to create sake like no other.
Over the past few years we have adapted our methods and our brewery to be able to brew year round, something all but unheard of in the sake industry. This permits us to brew our sake in a steady, even flow and rhythm that minimizes variables, allowing us to focus on the details even more.
Details that include labor-intensive hand crafted methods that have been proven over centuries to yield better sake. Details that include the most modern technology applied in the right measure, in the right places. Details that include using only the finest of materials like rice and ideal yeast.
In pursuit of quality.
DASSAI sake is created using a careful combination of tradition and cutting edge technology. Our brewery is a medley of ancient tools and innovative equipment. We have come to use what works, and leave what does not, choosing what our experience dictates is best from both the old world and the new.
In short, DASSAI sake is all about quality, and not quantity, both in how we brew it, as well as in how we hope you enjoy it.
We start with top quality rice…..
easily the best rice for sake brewing, Yamada Nishiki. We then mill away the outer portion, grinding away the outer half or more of each grain before brewing. Why this extravagance? Because this takes advantage of just what is so special about Yamada Nishiki.
The outer part of proper sake rice is where all the fat and protein resides, with the precious fermentable starches resting safely in the center of the grain. Milling away more and more of the outer part of the grains removes the fat and protein, leaving only the starch behind, leading to the elegant flavor profile that is DASSAI sake. Extravagant? Perhaps. Worth it? In light of our pursuit of the best sake we can brew, absolutely. This specially prepared rice is then brewed by our young, enthusiastic brewers using clear, clean local water in the isolated, pristine environment of the mountains of Yamaguchi Prefecture, on the southern tip of Honshu, the largest of Japan’s four main islands. The result is sake with an identity; delicate, refined and graceful.
At Asahi Shuzo, we brew only premium Junmai Daiginjo sake. There are but a few breweries in all of Japan that focus all effort on making only top grade sake. Our commitment to this defines every aspect of our brewery’s existence.